


A Very Mythic Questmas

by benschwartz



Category: Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet (TV)
Genre: Confessions, Kissing, M/M, Pining, alcohol mention, brad and david are tipsy, everyone is a little tipsy, ian and poppy are more than tipsy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28252200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benschwartz/pseuds/benschwartz
Summary: Rachel has a loud mouth when she’s drunk at David’s holiday party.Secret Santa gift for @dilfbakshi on Twitter!
Relationships: Brad Bakshi/David Brittlesbee
Comments: 8
Kudos: 23





	A Very Mythic Questmas

After a hectic year, David felt like his employees deserved something special for the holidays. They had just gone up 15% in value and server population because of the holiday loot crates they’d recently dropped, and David felt as though a celebration was in order. Everyone had spent countless sleepless nights making the game work this year, the least he could do was give out an end of the year bonus and invite his department heads to a holiday dinner. 

Technically it was a company function, and David couldn’t call it a Christmas dinner, because they were all members of different denominations and religions. Even though it wasn’t a Christmas dinner, there were Christmas decorations covering David’s apartment, and his sweater was bright red with little fairy lights all across the front, and a badass Santa Claus was shouting the phrase “Have a Very Mythic Questmas!” from beside a Christmas tree. The only other person wearing something half as ridiculous as him was Sue, who wore a blue Hanukkah sweater that was clearly more Christmas-y “for variety.” David wasn’t sure if that was offensive, but he wasn’t Christian or Jewish, so he couldn’t even tell you if he was in the wrong for having hunky Santa on his own sweater. 

The first knock came at his door at precisely 5:30, when the party was supposed to start. It was Jo and CW, and it was obvious they’d been fighting for the entire car ride. Jo usually drove everyone everywhere because she loved the control she had doing it, but she couldn’t figure out how to get CW to shut up in the car and regretted carpooling with him. When she was telling David about it, she admitted that she would have rather had Poppy and Ian fighting the whole time than hearing CW drone on about the podcast she was trying to listen to. 

The next people to arrive were Poppy and Ian, who had definitely taken something before they arrived. Luckily Michelle had been the one to drive them, but she wasn’t sticking around. Ian was stumbling and zoning out, and Poppy was laughing and falling on everyone, but David figured if they weren’t being loud and disruptive, they were okay. He thought they were drunk for about ten minutes before he got a look at Ian’s giant pupils, then he decided it was better not to ask. 

A pile of gifts had been collecting all night, and David was glad everyone had participated in the gift exchange. The bonus he gave was pretty hefty, and he could tell everyone was in high spirits about it, so hopefully they didn’t skimp on gifts or anything. David was certain he had picked the perfect thing for his friends, or coworkers, he supposed. He hoped they’d put in half as much effort as he did. 

Rachel and Dana came through the door

in matching Christmas sweaters with bags of gifts, plates of cookies, and more decorations for some reason. David insisted he didn’t need more, but soon almost everyone in the room was focused on decorating, and David just let them go. There was Christmas music coming from someone’s phone at one point, and he decided that it would be better to let it play than try to find nondenominational Christmas music. 

Sue didn’t bother knocking, and she pulled Paul through the door with her with presents stacked in his arms. David could tell that Sue had wrapped all of them, even if half of them were from Paul, and he took a moment to appreciate how perfect the packages looked. Sue really had a knack for making things look nice and neat. David greeted them and got them both drinks before he heard the oven ding. 

David had prepared most the food the night before, but a few things were heating up or still sitting. Though he was never a chef, David enjoyed cooking and found peace in it, and he was quite good at it. He grew up cooking with his mother and grandfather, and he always cooked when he could. David tried to include a variety of foods based on what his employees told him they usually ate for holidays, and he did his best, but sometimes challenges defeated him. Maybe he would tackle curry another time. 

Everyone was having a drink of the spiked apple cider David made, chatting and laughing and catching up, when the door bell rang. It had been knocks all night. When he answered the door, David was met face to face with Brad, but he looked completely different. His hair was the loosest David has ever seen it, a little unruly but thick and wavy and falling in his face, and he had an even stubble growing on his upper lip. Instead of slacks and a sweater like everyday, Brad was wearing tight khakis, a t-shirt, and a zip up Mythic Quest hoodie. David was taken aback. This was a casual dinner, but this is the most casual Brad had ever been. 

“Sorry if I’m late, I just got in from the airport, I’ve been visiting family in Poland.” Poland. David was taken aback again, but this time because of the amount of information overload. Brad was spending his first vacation in five years off in Poland, with family, and he looks like that, and he came directly from the airport to David’s dinner. 

“I didn’t know you were from Poland,” his eyebrows were raised and mouth agape, he probably looked stupid, and he certainly felt stupid for not knowing something so basic about an employee. David completely missed whatever Brad had just said because it was in Polish, but he smiled anyway. “Cool.” Brad laughed. 

“I’m not. I’m from Chicago, but my mother moved back to Poland when I graduated college, and my dad to India when I started college, so I don’t really have any family in the states.” Brad shrugged. “That’s okay, I can’t escape them when I visit.”

Rather than rude and standoffish, Brad was being warm and welcoming for once. He’d always been more lenient with David, but it seemed like being with his family had opened Brad up and made him less likely to roll his eyes at you when you were wrong. 

“Well come visit with us. We haven’t seen you in a month. Did you get your bonus by the way? I know yours specifically wasn’t as big as last year because—“

“David, I don’t need more money. Trust me. I got my bonus fine, thanks.” Brad clapped his shoulder and walked over to the couches, shaking hands with everyone but ultimately standing to watch. David stood next to him with his arms crossed and just watched everyone interact. 

“You’re the last person here. Ready to eat?”

“Yeah,” Brad smiled. “I haven’t had dinner with anyone other than my family in years.”

“Really?” Brad nodded as they made their way to the kitchen. He helped David set the table, and they made small talk as they did so. “You know you can always have dinner with me. Or Ian and Poppy. Or Rachel and Dana. Or any of us really. We like having you around, Brad.”

“I am pretty useful.” Brad smirked. 

“Maybe you’re just not as unbearable as you pretend to be.” David smiled and rolled his eyes, thinking about how Brad always put up a cold exterior. It was ridiculous how easily he could see through it, and both he and Brad pretended that he couldn’t, but David could read him better than anyone. And David wasn’t good at reading people. 

“I didn’t bring gifts for anyone,” Brad changed the subject, noticing the gifts collecting under the tree. “I’ll bring them on Monday.” 

“Don’t worry about it. But the office asshole wouldn’t even consider bringing gifts if he were really an asshole,” David smiled and pulled at one of the strings on Brad’s hoodie before announcing that dinner was ready. Everyone whooped, slightly tipsy or whatever Ian and Poppy were, and sat at the table. Brad was left slightly stunned at the way David had smiled like he saw through all of his bullshit. Maybe David’s proximity to his chest made his heart race a little as well, but he couldn’t be blamed for that. He’d been completely single for well over a year, he was a little more than touch starved. 

“Are we going to say grace?” Jo asked as she sat down. Almost everyone groaned and rolled their eyes except for David. 

“Well, Jo, we can’t all say grace because we don’t all belong to the same religion but... I will pray with you before we eat if you want.” David wasn’t necessarily religious, but he didn’t want Jo to feel singled out or alone. The smile that spread across her face surprised him, and she agreed, taking David’s hand in hers as he sat at the head of the table. Everyone was silent as they bowed their heads, and Jo said a quick amen moments later with David following suit. 

“Thanks David.” 

“You’re not even religious Dave,” Ian was trying to move Brad from the other end of the table, like he desperately wanted to be the other head of the table, but Brad was firmly planted and Ian was obviously not at full strength. Poppy was trying to pull him off of Brad, but she just ended up falling on the ground and pulling Ian and Brad in his chair with her. 

Brad swore loudly while Ian and Poppy giggled and sat down. David rushed over to make sure Brad was okay and noticed that he was holding his knee in pain. 

“Are you okay?” Brad tried to ignore how genuine David sounded. He was too lonely to be fussed over. 

“I’m fine. I just hit my knee on the edge of the table. Hurts like a bitch.” Brad hissed in pain when David touched his knee, and David immediately pulled his hand away. 

“Okay, let’s get you some ice.” David pulled Brad’s arm around his shoulder and Brad nearly collapsed against him at the realization of how strong he was. He felt like David was basically carrying him to the kitchen, and when he hoisted him up on the counter, Brad couldn’t help but squeak. 

While David was getting ice from the freezer, Brad shamelessly checked him out. Normally he wasn’t so interested, but between self isolation and spending the past month with his family, Brad couldn’t ignore how attractive David was like he usually could. 

“Thanks,” Brad smiled as David put a bag of frozen peas on his knee. “Are these peas?”

David grinned sheepishly. “I’m out of ice.”

There was a beat of silence before Brad spoke again. “Why haven’t we had a Christmas party before?”

“Technically it’s a holiday party,” David corrected. “My wife—ex-wife—wasn’t really a fan of my coworkers.”

“You mean your employees,” Brad said. David shrugged and took a sip of the apple cider he’d left on the counter. “You really consider yourself on the same level as the people you employ?”

“It’s not like I have much power over anyone,” David looked into his drink, trying to hide the defeated frown on his face. “Besides, if we don’t all have mutual respect for each other it creates an imbalance in the power dynamic. Clearly that doesn’t work here though, so maybe I’m just bad at my job.”

Brad’s eyebrows immediately furrowed. “David, you’re the best boss I’ve ever had.” He winced at his words. He hadn’t meant to say that, but the way David looked up at him with wide, hopeful eyes and a mouth open in surprise made the embarrassment worth it. 

“Really?”

“Yeah. Mostly because you let me do whatever I want,” David rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. “But you actually care about your job. You put effort in, even if you’re having a bad day, and you always put the needs of your ‘coworkers’ before your own. That’s leadership.” Brad punctuated his sentence by pointing at David with the bag of peas. His knee felt much better already, but was certainly bruised. 

“Thanks Brad.” David smiled to himself a little proudly. “I didn’t know you thought that about me.”

“You don’t know a lot about me, Davey.” With that, Brad hopped off the counter and walked back to the dinner table, leaving David alone and flushed. 

“You’re telling me,” David muttered under his breath, following Brad shortly after. 

Dinner went smoothly after Ian and Poppy started to settle down and sober up, or that’s what David assumed was the case. Everyone made conversation and joked as they ate, and David felt like he had really done something good here. Maybe he would even repeat the dinner next year. 

Even though he was trying to stay engaged in a conversation, David kept letting his eyes drift to Brad, stealing little glances as he ate and spoke, admiring the hands and gestures. Sue waved her hand in front of David’s face once he had fully zoned out and started staring, and he immediately turned his attention back to her. 

“Ask him to stay the night,” she whispered excitedly. David felt like a teenager. 

“Are you kidding? I don’t even know if he’s—I’m not even—I don’t like—we’re coworkers—he’s—I’m—“

“David,” Sue put a hand on his shoulder and tried to ground him. “That boy is gayer than an episode of Golden Girls, and he obviously likes you. Also, you do like him. You come downstairs everyday to talk about everything Brad did that day.”

David blushed and averted his eyes. “We share an office, he’s the only person I see most days.” Sue gave him a deadpan look. “I’m not a first move kind of guy, Sue.”

“You should be, David. He’s been staring at you for this entire conversation.” David immediately looked over to Brad, but Brad didn’t look away. He wiggled his fingers in a wave and smiled softly. David’s skin burned at his gaze and he quickly averted his eyes back to Sue. 

“Maybe. We’ll see.”

After opening their presents, everyone settled in to watch Die Hard, which technically wasn’t a Christmas movie, and David tried to ignore that Brad was sitting right next to him. The couch was crowded and they were pressed against each other, and Brad had put his arm around David’s shoulder to make more room. Sue had given David a toothy smile and a thumbs up, encouraging him to make a move. Maybe later. 

Predictably, Poppy and Ian talked until they fell asleep on each other, CW criticized the movie, and everyone else just tried to enjoy it. David could hardly pain attention with Brad so close to him. He wondered why he was so much more flustered around Brad than usual. His absence had caused David to miss him, and it was hard to get through the work day without having someone to joke around with or bother. It was lonely without Brad, even in meetings. And somehow even more at home. 

Jo sprung up from her seat and said something about her cats, and she grabbed CW and pulled him outside with her. She ran back inside shortly to grab her jacket, say thank you to David, and goodbye to everyone else, and then she was gone. 

Poppy and Ian were the next to go with Poppy waking up to Michelle FaceTiming her and telling her she was waiting outside. The seven of them tried to wake Ian up for five minutes before Paul picked him up and shook him, and the second Ian woke up he started to scream and thrash. David was certain that would cause problems on Monday, but he decided that was a problem for future David. 

Once the movie was over, Sue and Paul said their goodbyes while Rachel and Dana chugged water to sober up. David heard Brad tease them about being light weights, but Rachel only flipped him off and rolled her eyes. He didn’t know they were so close. Or that they had ever spoken, really. 

“Rachel,” David caught her while she was coming back from the kitchen. “Hey, I didn’t know you and Brad were friends.”

“Do you even know my last name, David?” 

“Of course I do!” She looked at him expectantly as his eyes darted around the room. “Rachellllllll.... c’mon, of course I know it, everyone knows you’re Rachel......... Berry?”

“Oh my god,” she scoffed, but there was a laugh behind it. “I’m not a fucking Glee character.”

“Oh shit, I didn’t know you watched Glee.”

“I don’t. Do you?” Rachel cocked an eyebrow. David didn’t answer, which was an answer in itself, and she smiled at him. “I have no idea what Brad sees in you.”

“What?” David’s eyes went wide and his nervous smile dropped. His mouth had never been so dry, and he thought his face was red enough to challenge that second degree sunburn he got when he fell asleep at the beach last summer. 

“Oh fuck,” Rachel’s expression mimicked David’s, only there was much more panic there. “I didn’t say that. I did not say that.” She grabbed his collar. “I didn’t say that, David.” 

“Please let go of me,” he squeaked. Rachel immediately dropped him and stepped back, apologizing profusely. “Woah. What was that?”

“Brad will kill me if he finds out I just said that. You don’t know fucking anything,” her whisper was harsh and her finger accusatory, pointed directly at David’s chest. “I’m still too drunk for this. Dana!”

“Yeah?” Dana’s head whipped around from her conversation with Brad. She looked desperate to have an excuse to leave. 

“Get an Uber, I’ll pick the car up tomorrow.”

“Awesome.” 

Within ten minutes of awkward silence, Dana and Rachel were gone, and only Brad was left in David’s overtly Christmas themed living room. A deep sigh left David’s chest as he realized tonight could have gone better, but it also could’ve been much worse. He was doing his best to avoid looking at Brad, but he was the only thing there, and he was so pretty under the Christmas lights in his hoodie and khakis. David still wasn’t over how dressed down Brad was. 

“Did Rachel tell you—“

“Yeah.” David accidentally looked at Brad, and suddenly their eyes were locked across the room. David felt embarrassed. 

“Are you... upset?” Brad pulled his legs onto the couch, sitting to face David. He didn’t seem nervous or upset, he just seemed tranquil. It made David sweat. “You seem at a loss for words. And have been for the past fifteen minutes.”

“Yeah, I...” David trailed off, not sure what he was planning to say. He had only spoken to break his silence. “I’m not upset.”

“I think you’re certainly conflicted.”

“Why?” He blurted. 

“Probably because you’re straight. I’m also an asshole, so learning that I have emotions, much less romantic ones, must be off putting. I can imagine you thought I was straight, too, so that’s probably causing some feelings of conf—“

“No, I mean why...” David swallowed and brought his legs up to the couch to mirror Brad. “Why do you like me?”

“Please, David, I’m not going to sit here and feed your ego. I have dignity.” The way his eyes rolled and his throat moved were entrancing to David. He was getting lost now that he was looking. “Besides, I don’t fraternize with those who don’t requite my feelings.” 

“You said I was straight. I’m not straight.” Brad raised his eyebrows. “I’m bi.”

“Hm. Shouldn’t have assumed. But you’ve never said anything.”

“Neither have you.”

“Touché.” Brad smirked and let his tongue graze over his canines. David swallowed. The tension was palpable and Brad was staring straight into David’s eyes, but David’s eyes were wandering all over Brad, like he had never had working eyes before this moment. 

“Are you going to kiss me?” David whispered after a moment’s silence, a moment spent inching closer and closer. 

“Only if you want me to,” he whispered back. 

“Please.”

The second Brad’s lips touched his, David let out an embarrassingly loud, dreamy sigh into the kiss, and Brad’s hands were on the back of his neck, holding him close. Their deep, slow kiss became little pecks all over David’s face, and giggles that Brad would pay to hear bubbled out of David’s mouth. Soon the two of them were laughing at nothing and falling down onto the couch, Brad’s head falling on David’s chest. 

“I’ve been wanting to do that for years.”

“So why didn’t you?” David ran a hand through Brad’s curls, finally feeling how soft and fluffy they were. Brad shrugged. 

“You got a divorce last year, David.” 

“Yeah but I probably would’ve left my wife when it got bad if I knew I was still desirable to the market.” Brad knew he was joking, but he humored the thought for a moment. 

“Don’t let me think I could make a man leave his wife, it’ll go straight to my head.” Brad ducked down to kiss David again, but he could help but smile against his mouth. “It’s too hard to kiss you, I can’t stop smiling.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you genuinely smile,” David couldn’t help but smile back then. Brad was right, it was hard for them to kiss because he couldn’t stop smiling. 

“It’s a Christmas miracle.” David rolled his eyes. “Sorry, I mean a nondenominational holiday miracle.”

“Shut up.” David was laughing. 

“Make me.” And he did. 

**Author's Note:**

> this took days to write lmfao. i hope it’s okay!! pls leave kudos and comments if u enjoyed !!


End file.
